They’re after donations right after graduation.

Market Watch reports.

Why colleges ask young alumni for money even when they have student loans

Seven months after graduating college during the depths of the Great Recession in 2009 Kathleen Garvin was still adjusting to post-college life the first time her alma-mater called asking her for money.

Garvin was “making money here and there” by doing some freelance writing and working a retail job. She was living at home in order to save it up. The post-graduation grace period for paying back her student loans had just come to an end and so she started making $400 monthly payments to put a dent in her $50,000 debt.

Then one evening in January 2010, Garvin got a phone call from a Temple University representative asking for a donation. “It just almost felt like a slap in the face,” Garvin, now 28, said of the call. “To graduate, be in all this debt and then get called to donate money when the school has already taken so much from me, it was just kind violating and frustrating.”

Needless to say, Garvin didn’t send a check. There are other ways for students to stay engaged with their university, though, short of giving money, such as helping graduates find jobs or participating in community service opportunities. As James Dicker, Temple’s vice president for institutional advancement, noted in a statement, “showing Temple pride by donating to the university is only one way of participating.”